From the big number: returns of up to 40% have led to a surge in CFA investments
Russians have bought digital financial assets - analogs of stocks and bonds on the blockchain - for 159 billion rubles in 2024. This is four times more than a year earlier, the Central Bank told Izvestia. People are attracted by high profitability - up to 40%, while money on deposit can be placed at no higher than 25%, and stock exchange instruments bring even less. It is faster and cheaper for business to attract funds in this way, so the rates are higher. What risks this new investment tool carries - in the material "Izvestia".
What is CFA
Last year, Russians concluded 215 thousand transactions for the purchase of digital financial assets (CFA). The total volume of citizens' investments in the new instrument reached 159 billion rubles. This amount more than four times exceeded the results of the previous year, the Bank of Russia told Izvestia.
CFA is an analog of already existing instruments, such as shares or bonds. But the difference is that they are blockchain-based. Their issuance and sale is allowed only through operators of information systems (OIS) included in a special register of the Central Bank. There are now 14 of them, including Sberbank, Alfa Bank, SPB Exchange, Atomize, National Settlement Depository, and Lighthouse, among others.
The CFA market is quite new, it appeared in 2020, the press service of Sber noted to Izvestia. At the same time, it is actively developing - such investments are made not only by institutional investors, but also by ordinary individuals. In 2024, 85 thousand people were clients of Atomize, of whom the share of qualified investors did not exceed 5%, according to Alexei Ilyasov, CEO of the platform.
In general, in 2024, the market for digital assets showed dynamic growth in all indicators, including the number of new operators, the number of issues, the volume of funds placed and the diversity of issuers, the Central Bank said. It noted that 950 issues worth more than RUB 580 billion were placed during the year, or almost nine times higher than in 2023. CFAs are mostly placed for about 90 days, the SPB Exchange pointed out.
Nevertheless, the CFA market is still much smaller than investments in traditional instruments. For comparison: in 2024, private investors invested 1.3 trillion rubles in securities on the Moscow Exchange, said the press service of the site. Of these, 859 billion - in bonds.
How much you can earn on CFA
The CFA yield in different cases is determined by unique approaches and can be both fixed and floating, tied to various indicators and indices, the Central Bank said. It may also depend on the quotation of precious metals, the cost of diamonds, real estate, the occurrence of certain events and other factors, the regulator explained.
Because of such diversity, it is difficult to determine the average level of projected profit. The profitability of some assets issued in the form of "digital bonds" is comparable to the key rate, the Bank of Russia summarized.
The most popular type of digital assets last year was debt obligations, i.e. digital analogs of bonds, noted Alexei Ilyasov. He explained: the company that issued this asset, periodically pays a fixed yield, and at the end of the term, at maturity, returns to the client and the money originally deposited by him.
The yield on such products was mostly higher than the rates on deposits, added Alexei Ilyasov - about 27% per annum. Whereas banks offered 22-24% on deposits in December, "Izvestia" wrote. And bond yields reached the maximum 22-26%.
Also in 2024, so-called protective CFAs were popular. Among them are tokens on precious metals with daily price changes, for example, assets on palladium or gold, the specialist continued. At the same time, there are also more non-standard products: for example, art tokens, he added.
SPB Exchange said that the yield of CFA issues last year ranged from 20 to 25% per annum.
The yield of CFA as a new instrument on the market with a shortage of working capital is very high now, said Vasily Lavrov, an investment expert. Some companies give yields approaching 40% per annum.
Pros and cons of CFA
CFA can give higher interest rates than deposits and bonds, agreed leading analyst of AMarkets Igor Rastorguev. At the same time, they carry more risks, he noted. In general, they are similar to classical instruments, noted Alexei Ilyasov. For example, the credit risk of the issuer of such an asset works the same way as in bonds, explained in the press service of Sber. There is a probability that the company that issued the token will not be able to pay off its debts.
There's also a market factor. If the value of CFA is tied to a certain asset (for example, gold) and its price starts to decline, the investor will lose money. Other investment products are subject to the same risks, the bank said.
However, unqualified investors have additional restrictions when investing in CFAs. They can only buy tokens with a fixed yield and for an amount not exceeding Br600 thousand per year, recalled the credit organization. They believe that the list of available instruments should be expanded. For example, to allow investing in assets tied to the key rate and the exchange rate.
Unqualified investors can already buy bonds tied to the key rate - this should be extended to digital assets, agrees Alexei Ilyasov. In addition, according to him, many investors are "stuck" in the limit of 600 thousand on CFA. Therefore, the company asks the regulator to determine the instruments for which it is possible to increase this threshold.
- The main advantages of buying CFA are their availability and diversification. This allows investing in different assets without having to purchase them physically, which simplifies the process of investing money. Also, the blockchain technology used in such instruments ensures transparency and traceability of transactions," added Igor Rastorguev from AMarkets.
The advantages are that this is a fresh tool and you can earn an obscene amount of money on it if you know how to use it correctly, says Vasily Lavrov. According to him, the volume of the CFA market is very small compared to the bond market, and now it is mainly only debt securities. But there is growth, and it will continue to grow rapidly, the expert believes.
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